For some critics of Microsoft's latest OS, this should come as no surprise: IT departments are wary of adopting Windows 8. This information comes from a new Forrester report which sourced its results from interviewing nearly 10,000 IT employees. Interestingly, while IT managers themselves have little interest in rolling-out Windows 8 for various reasons, demand by individual employees at these companies expressed slightly more interest in Windows 8 (38%) than 7 (35%).

Even with some Windows 8 demand, however, IT managers seem disinterested in the costs of moving to this particular version. Instead, many are looking at Windows 7. But from an ROI perspective, many companies prefer to adopt the latest OS so that its official support lasts as long as possible. With Windows 7 having been out for a few years already, its support lifespan is likely to be less than Windows 8's - unless of course Microsoft keeps things alive much like it has with Windows XP.

On the topic of XP, that's a definite sticking-point for some IT departments. With official support of that ending next April, the time is now to decide whether or not to adopt 8, 7, or in rarer cases, go with another solution.

As Forrester's report is available commercially, most of the interesting facts are kept bundled inside, so many of the exact reasons why IT departments are avoiding Windows 8 are unclear. However, we're certain that part of the reason comes from the fact that the OS has had limited consumer adoption, and so it's likely that the next major release from Microsoft is going to be more appealing. At the same time, few IT departments want to invest in touch-based devices, which thrive on the OS.

With Microsoft's free Windows 8 update coming this year, 8.1, we have to wonder if that will change any opinions to work in the favor of the company. While 8.1 retains the Start screen that's the ire of many, it does seem to remedy many other complaints.

Something tells me that if Microsoft had of given users an option between a traditional Start menu and Start screen in Windows 8 and also gave the option to revert other OS mechanics (such as the process of shutting down), IT adoption would have been much more likely.